Probably most people expected this film to be similar to the psychological thriller "Seven" (this film would be "Eight", based on its advertising graphics). However, despite a carefully-thought-out murder plot executed as a kind of demonstration of "intellectual muscle" by two pampered and otherwise ignored boys who have no sense of what productive place they can achieve in the world (and who want to test their view of power in that world), the underpinning of this movie wasn't about mind at all, but about what I would call "the mesmerizing power of male beauty," which I think is valid for a story about teenagers, for whom physicality is their main concern, anyway (not being stuck sitting around in class learning philosophy or calculus, which must drive them crazy). To me the most interesting element in the film was Ryan Gosling and his hypnotic performance; I don't believe I have seen an actor "move" quite so well since Brad Pitt in Thelma and Louise. It is obvious how the "class nerd" would be drawn to him, to want to be like him, and to relish their association beyond the point of all reason. This is pretty typical "high school," "popularity" stuff, which, I believe, is worth psychologically exploring to the depths, but which was not done here. Fortunately, in real life, this does not routinely lead to grisly murder. The Sandra Bullock character sub-plot also involved the same issue, where about her ex-husband, she said, "He was the most beautiful guy I had ever seen," which explains her own helpless involvement with the dance of a cobra. Even her male partner contains elements of the treacherous male, as it was made abundantly clear that he had formerly been a vice cop, those members of the police force who use, essentially, their beauty and sexual attractiveness to entrap perpetrators of victimless crimes. To my reckoning, vice cops are a poison on the police force--whether their target is female prostitutes or male cruisers--a hold-over from more puritan values where the area they infiltrate is none of their business and whose whole operation might be put to better use, if they must, infiltrating organized crime operations al la Donnie Brasco.
Perhaps even more interesting than the Michael Pitt character's attraction to the Ryan Gosling character, was the Ryan Gosling character's attraction to the Michael Pitt character, which bordered upon the sexual, although for psychologically stunted characters like these I would never identify them with something as psychologically mature as a sexual orientation. These people operate in a shadow land of indescriminate physical desires.
This film, to be sure, is populated by attractive females, the Sandra Bullock character, of course, and notably, the high school girl "Goldilocks" whose beauty amazed me and was shown for a disappointingly short period time...but here every female was a victim of her attraction to a poisonous male. The story is definitely about MALE sexual power, not female, which I think is an interesting twist.
All in all, I feel that this film took a step into new ground, which I would expect for a film directed by Barbet Shroeder, a director I admire immensely. If for no other reason, I recommend watching this film for Ryan Gosling, who I believe has quite an exciting career ahead of him.
Perhaps even more interesting than the Michael Pitt character's attraction to the Ryan Gosling character, was the Ryan Gosling character's attraction to the Michael Pitt character, which bordered upon the sexual, although for psychologically stunted characters like these I would never identify them with something as psychologically mature as a sexual orientation. These people operate in a shadow land of indescriminate physical desires.
This film, to be sure, is populated by attractive females, the Sandra Bullock character, of course, and notably, the high school girl "Goldilocks" whose beauty amazed me and was shown for a disappointingly short period time...but here every female was a victim of her attraction to a poisonous male. The story is definitely about MALE sexual power, not female, which I think is an interesting twist.
All in all, I feel that this film took a step into new ground, which I would expect for a film directed by Barbet Shroeder, a director I admire immensely. If for no other reason, I recommend watching this film for Ryan Gosling, who I believe has quite an exciting career ahead of him.